He never had a chance to reunite with Gandash, though it was to his delight that, in the afternoon, Sergeant Tamharu was assigned to his squad.
Xerk! the sergeant said. How you holding up?
Doing okay, Sarge. Any news? Say, what happened to Master Ligishs machine? I forgot about it in all the commotion.
I think the mages forgot, too, he said. Captain Ishki got orders to lock it up for safe keeping. I guess theyll wait until this invasion is dealt with before looking at it. You ready to go out there and skewer so bug monsters?
Xerxes grinned. Ready to sliceem and diceem!
Tamharu laughed.
As it turned out, they were assigned to patrol Harborview. To Xerxes surprise, he learned that Tamharu had also been born and raised there.
How co you dont talk like it? Xerxes asked.
How co you dont? the sergeant responded. I heard so of the boys saying you were born and raised here, but you sound like an ogdown fancypants mage to .
Xerxes laughed. Okay, fair point.
They didnt encounter any Abhorrent. Or any cultists. They did stop a mugging, and arrested a pickpocket, although Ninsunu said they didnt have ti to cart them to jail, so they let the lawbreakers off with beatings.
Before long, it was ti to part ways with Tamharu. Even though theyd only known each other for a short ti, Xerxes felt closer with him than with virtually any of the other mages with whom hed been associated for much longer.
Take care of yourself, Xerk, Tamharu said.
You too, Sarge.
No need for the title.
Xerxes heart suddenly felt heavy, though he wasnt sure why. Okay, Tamharu. Please, be careful. If things get bad just be careful.
The sergeant gave him a casual salute, then left. Xerxes tried to ignore the premonition this might be the last ti he saw him.
Just nerves, he told himself.
Night fell.
This ti, Xerxes didnt sleep well. He woke at least three tis.
The next days routine was the sa.
While he, Ninsunu, and a few soldiers were poking around the docks, sothing happened on the other side of the city. Shesh and Alwin stumbled onto a group of five Abhorrent lurking in an abandoned tailors shop, along with three cultists.
One Abhorrent died in the resulting clash. Two cultists lost their lives.
Alwin didnt make it. Another mage dead.
Aban Saddi flew into a rage upon hearing the news, pouring fiery curse words onto Shesh. It was made even worse by the fact that Shesh failed to prevent the surviving cultist from escaping. The way Shesh wilted only went to reinforce how rarely Aban Saddi ever said anything negative to him.
One thing was certain: the Abhorrent and their cultist followers hadnt fled the city. They were still out there, hiding and waiting. But for what?
The only upside to the event was that Nohemthe third Buhhu mageand Gandash managed to track down the missing Abhorrent monsters before they went into hiding again. What was more, the four fleeing spawn led them to another nest of sorts. Neither Gandash nor Nohem was impulsive enough to barge into the place. Thus Abad Saddi sent a group of sixty soldiers, led by Captain Ishiki and Seer Fale, to deal with the beasts. Xerxes and his father, both Asgagu mages, were told to go along and provide extra offensive power. They wiped them out.
After that mixture of tragedy and success, two days passed in which nothing happened.
On the third day, things changed dramatically.
Xerxes was one of the first to notice. Waking early, he ate a quick breakfast and, flanked by his usual escort of soldiers, went out to the battlents to look over the city in the light of the rising sun.
Leaning his shoulder up against a crenellation and resting his sword against his chest, he was gazing toward the east when sothing in his peripheral vision caught his attention.
A falling star.
A teor.
A chill ran up his spine as he saw the burning object steak down and land sowhere off in the distance. Although he couldnt be sure, it had to be only a few leagues from the city.
Did you see that? he asked of the soldiers who stood closest to him
See what? the soldier asked.
Never mind.
Gazing back out into the sky briefly, he was about to turn and head back into the keep when he saw another teor.
Look! he said.
The soldier stepped closer to get a better view through the crenelations. Falling star? the soldier said.
Yeah, Xerxes replied. The Abhorrent are coming in those things. I wonder.
The soldier gulped nervously. I sure ope its nothing but
He stopped talking as he realized that this teor was a lot closer than the other, so much so that he had to crane his heads to see it. Furthermore, its angle of descent was much steeper.
Xerxes, having experienced a teor flying directly overhead, didnt duck as it passed over, but the soldier did. They heard a faint rumbling sound as the teor crashed into the ground so close to the city walls that they saw a cloud of dust a mont later.
Oly shit, the soldier said.
Xerxes gritted his teeth. Yeah, we need to report this. Co on, lets
He stopped talking.
Up in the sky, hed spotted another burning object. But sohow, he could tell that this one was much bigger than any of the others.
The smaller teors had streaked down like diving falcons; this bigger one tumbled end over end without any sense of urgency. It almost seed to be falling in slow motion. But as it got bigger, and bigger, and bigger, Xerxes heart pounded.
How big was it?
And it seed to be heading directly toward him. It wasnt like the situation back on the road, where the teor had looked like it was heading toward him, but actually wasnt. As the teor grew larger and larger in his field of vision, he didnt get any sense that it was slowly drifting to the left, or the right. No, it was coming right toward him. What would happen when it hit? Fire? Explosions? Destruction? Probably all of those.
Its going to land in the city, he said. Maybe even hit the keep.
Fucking ell, the soldier muttered, standing there as motionless as a gravestone.
Yeah. Keeping his eyes on the teor, he pushed past the petrified soldier and toward the door. If that thing hits us, were dead!
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